Almost Paradise
by AmazingGraceless
Summary: Footloose!AU. Rey McCormack moves to Beaumont, Illinois and moves in with the Rev. Skywalker. She's very surprised to discover that in Beaumont, dancing is illegal! While she enjoys the Rev.'s hospitality, she meets his tall, dark, brooding nephew, Ben. Between a mysterious town tragedy and spiritual faith, can Rey ever cut footloose?
1. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord

The church of Beaumont had just let out. Rey stood awkwardly as she watched Rev. Skywalker talk to his twin sister and her husband. She was an outsider, it was obvious in the way she looked in her scrappy pale blue dress that fit a little too tight, her dancer's posture, her optimistic expression.

Even when the Rev. and Ms. Solo were happy, as they were now, there was a sadness in their eyes. A sadness in all of the congregation's eyes, she noticed. Others might not pick it out, but she was good at reading faces after having to fend for herself in the Home in the Chicago.

Her toes pointed out at a forty-five degree angle as she thought of one of the tunes she'd heard in the radio recently. Her foot began tapping of its own accord and her fingers snapped.

Everyone went silent and stared at her when they heard the snap.

"What?" She asked, confused as to what she'd done. What could possibly have been wrong? Dancing wasn't against the law, was it?

Rev. Skywalker put his arm around his new ward to show her to his family. She felt briefly a little uncomfortable with the touch- the last person to ever touch her like that had been her mother, nine years ago, before she'd left her alone in the apartment for days until Child Services came knocking.

"Leia, this is Rey McCormack, from the city," Rev. Skywalker said.

Rey plastered her usual smile to her face as she extended her hand to the other woman. Ms. Solo had a regal look-like some foreign princess, yet had the gritty face of a general.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Solo," Rey said with the same distant politeness she treated everyone with-a precaution. She couldn't help but be nice to people, but she'd learned the hard way that the world didn't respect sugar and spice-they took advantage of it. Yet it was so ingrained into her identity that she couldn't drop the heart of gold no matter how it held her down.

"Oh, Rey, you can call me Leia," Ms. Solo said.

"She's a bit stubborn about that," Rev. Skywalker informed her. "I've asked her about a dozen times to call me Luke, but it's still Rev. Skywalker."

Rey bit her lip. She hadn't had a close relationship like that; she wasn't used to calling people something other than their last name. She'd try to work on that, though. She didn't want to becoming annoying.

"It's alright, if you want Ms. Solo, Ms. Solo it is," the older woman assured her. "But please, call me Leia when you want to"

Rey nodded, her smile blossoming into a genuine one. Mr. Solo extended his hand to her.

"Hey kid, I'm Han," he said. "Been married to the missus for thirty years."

"Han," she repeated, tasting the name in her mouth. It had a certain badassery to it, but it had the feeling of someone she could count on. "Nice to meet you."

"You picked up a good kid in the city," Mr. Solo said to Rev. Skywalker.

"Speaking of kids, where is yours?" Rev. Skywalker asked.

"He's talking to Snoke," Ms. Solo said with distaste.

Rey covered her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling at the ridiculous name. Rev. Snoke was the other pastor in the church, a pale bald man with a scarred face. He had been the opposite of Rev. Skywalker, his lectures full of doom and gloom and the wrath of God (not that she actually believed in God). She'd found him more funny than terrifying, although it was obvious that the rest of the congregation didn't view him that way.

"Ben!" Mr. Solo shouted.

One of the two gothic teenagers groaned and stomped to the side of Mr. Solo. His presence hit Rey with all the force of a hurricane. She barely kept herself from audibly gasping. His hair was long and curly, and he was dressed all in black with a little bit of eyeliner. He had an expression that came off as permanently grumpy, although his eyes widened when he saw her.

"Ben, this is Rey McCormack, the kid from the city that Luke's taking in," Mr. Solo said, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder so he couldn't go run off to hang around with Charles Hux and Mara Phasma.

"Hi," Rey said in an almost dreamlike tone. Her hand extended itself as a princess's would before she danced with a prince.

"Hello," he said in his deep voice that made something within Rey feel electrified. He took her hand, and the feeling of a warm hand surrounded Rey's cool one. Their eyes remained on each other, hazel to brown in a moment of fate.

"You'll both be going to the high school," Ms. Solo said, oblivious to the match that had just been struck right in front of her very eyes. "Ben, I'm expecting you to show her around."

"What?" He asked, shaking his head a little to return to reality. "Sure."

Rey sucked her breath in a moment of daring.

"Could we maybe go out somewhere, like to this really great little store I know with a great radio for dan-"

Everyone turned to look at her. Rev. Snoke marched over to her, the image of unholy wrath.

"I don't know what you've been telling her, Skywalker," Snoke said angrily. "But there's one thing that she hasn't learned yet! Dancing is illegal!"

"What?" Rey was struggling between laughter and fear. For one, it was so ridiculous. Law against dancing? Why the hell would that be a thing? For two, she was only afraid because Rev. Snoke was seriously hardcore. As funny as it had been during the session, it wasn't funny when she was the main focus of his hardcore behavior.

"There was a law against dancing formed a few years ago," Ms. Solo said. Rey saw the sadness in the eyes of her and the congregation and the laughter inside her died.

"You're serious?" She blurted out.

Ms. Solo nodded.

"Sorry, I didn't know," she said, her cheeks flushing bright red.

"Come on, let's go for Sunday lunch," Rev. Skywalker said kindly, putting his arm around Rey again. She kept her head down but was faintly aware of the fact that Ben Solo was staring at her in a very different way than the others.


	2. Your Faith Was Strong but You Need Proof

Rey wasn't quite sure how she ended up in this situation with her tractor slowly accelerating towards Chuck Hux's tractor in a deadly game of Chicken. Still, she did know it had started on her first day of school.

* * *

After her insensitive comments after church the day before, Rev. Skywalker had been almost paranoid on making sure she was wearing something considered semi-acceptable to the school. For her, that was her favorite pair of cargo pants, her faded REO Speedwagon t-shirt that smelled like her mother, and her white converse that had long since been painted and doodled over with celestial art. She twisted her hair into her three-bun hairstyle and had walked out of the door with breakfast and a hug from Rev. Skywalker.

It had been a relatively uneventful day, too, until lunch. Rey had just wandered over to a lonely table in the corner where the lightbulbs had burned out and had sat down to eat. Immediately, one of the seniors with black curls that belonged in a shampoo ad and another junior in a leather jacket with a friendly face sat down in front of her.

"I'm Poe Dameron and he's Finn Jade," the senior said, jerking his thumb at his dark-skinned friend.

"Oh, um, hi," Rey said. "Rey McCormack."

"We know," Finn said bluntly. "Everyone said you suggested dancing in front of the Rev.'s nephew."

Rey blushed. "I didn't know it was illegal."

"It's kinda a touchy topic around here," Poe explained. "So, did you do anything really cool in the city?"

"Well, there was this one time this big fat jerk, Fred, he dared me to try and get inside a club, and then I got onto the dance floor and met this really tall Swedish girl," Rey began with a certain relish and sparkle in her eye.

"Ah-huh," the boys chorused.

"Well, I'm up for anything at least once," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "So we went into this bathroom and she'd brought her friend along and had-"

She stopped and laughed at the looks of shock and embarrassment from the two.

"And that was all a lie," she finished.

"So you're not a lesbian?" Finn asked.

"Nope," Rey confirmed.

"Aw, no!" Poe suddenly whined after looking over his shoulder. "Not him again!"

"Not who?" Rey asked.

"The Rev.'s bitchy nephew," Finn explained. Rey looked above them and saw the younger Solo walking up to them in his gothic ensemble, followed by Hux and Phasma in equally gothic states.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Willard, Dameron, and the stupid new girl," Phasma drawled as she crossed her arms over her chest, the movement making her bracelets jingle.

"The one that doesn't seem to grasp the severity of what the Rev. Snoke was trying to tell her," Hux added.

"Look, I'm just trying to eat my lunch. If you don't get away now-" Rey threatened.

"Threats will not get rid of us," Ben said, staring straight at her in a way that confused her. What the hell did he want?

"Look, I don't know what you have against me, but why don't we solve it," Rey suggested, leaping to her feet.

"Good suggestion, little girl," Hux taunted. "Me and you by Old Pedersen's pond, a game of Chicken. Loser has to pay a month's worth of lunch for a month."

"You're on," Rey declared determinedly. They'd shook hands and she'd sat down. Poe and Finn stared at her as if she'd sold her soul to Cthulhu.

"Oh come on, you don't owe him anything," Finn said.

"I won't," Rey said right before she pounded on the end of her bottle to get extra drops of water.

"Do you even know what Chicken is?" Poe asked frustratedly.

"Nope," she said.

"You're going to ride tractors as close as you can until one of you steers away to avoid crashing. The one who steers away loses," Poe explained.

"Is that all?" Rey laughed. "I've got this."

* * *

Turns out, that confidence wasn't quite that strong when a tractor was coming at you. Rey gripped the controls tightly. She wasn't going to lose any of this. Not with pride and money on the line.

On the side, Ben was watching with a nonchalant air and Poe and Finn were screaming for Rey. She was about to decide it wasn't worth it when her shoelace got stuck on the pedals. She jammed her foot down, trying to free it.

As Ben's radio played "I Need a Hero" in the background, Hux began to panic. Was this girl trying to kill him? At the very last second, he jumped into the pond as the tractor tumbled down beside him. Shaking, he climbed out of the pond. He owed the girl lunch money.

When Rey finally loosened her shoelace, she heard the yells and looked behind her to see the smiles and hear the victory cheers. She pumped her fist in the air as Phasma began helping Hux and Ben stared at her.

* * *

Later, she was re-tying her laces on a bench outside the barn she'd borrowed a tractor from. Poe and Finn were waiting by Finn's truck for her. She looked up from her grimy laces, however, to see Ben Solo who had silently sat down next to her.

"You were impressive," he told her.

"All I did was hold my ground," Rey said with a shrug.

"You'd be surprised how many people don't," Ben replied.

An awkward, tense silence stretched between the two of them.

"What do you want, Solo?" Rey asked.

He hesitated. "I want to know you, McCormack. Want me to walk you to your car?"

"Nope, I've got it," she said with a cheery smile. She then skipped down to Poe and Finn and jumped into the backseat.

"Floor it," she ordered.


	3. You Saw Her Bathing on the Roof

It started with the family dinners. They'd have their own conversation while Rev. Skywalker, Ms. Jade-Skywalker, Mr. Solo and Mrs. Solo talked about other matters. Sometimes they'd talk about music (it turned out that both teenagers had a taste for rock and roll despite the sinful nature). Sometimes they would talk about dreams and ambitions.

Rey wanted to be a scientist for NASA, one of the engineers. Ben was more into the idea of being CEO of some business or franchise. Both of them wanted to get out of the small town, even though Rey had only been in Beaumont for a few weeks at this point. She also could see it in how he tapped his foot occasionally to the beat when they were alone in the living room or his room (door open of course), the way his body moved. She knew that he was a dancer at heart.

After talking to Poe and Finn, she had come up with a plan involving the four of them. Of course, it involved the truck and a little bit of rule-bending. It was the Solo-Skywalker family dinner again when there was the sound of a truck pulling into the driveway.

"Ms. Jade Sky-" Rey began upon hearing the sound.

"Mara," Ms. Jade-Skywalker corrected.

"Mara, those are my friends. Can I go out with them tonight?" Rey asked.

Ms. Jade-Skywalker and Rev. Skywalker exchanged glances and nodded.

"Han, M- I mean, Leia, can Ben come with me?" she added.

"Take him," Mr. Solo said immediately.

"Han," Mrs. Solo chided.

"What?" A smirk played on the corners of his mouth, much like when Ben talked. "You were just saying the other night how it was good that he wasn't hanging around Snoke's disciples so much!"

Ben stared down at his barely-touched plate, his hands clenched into fists.

"If Ben wants to go, he may," Mrs. Solo said hastily.

"Ben?" Rey's eyes pleaded at him. He looked up and after a quick glance at his father, and he wordlessly leapt to his feet and pulled on his trench coat.

She took his hand and tugged him along to the front door.

"We'll be home at ten!"

She shut the screen door behind them and tugged a sullen Ben along to where Finn and Poe were waiting for them. She grinned and she got in the backseat with Ben.

"You boys ready for a fun night out?" She asked.

"Absolutely!" Finn shouted, excited to rebel for once.

"It's gonna be great, this was a good idea, Rey," Poe added.

"What are we doing?" Ben asked. He shifted, slightly uncomfortable with Poe and Finn, and for good reason. They hadn't along before and there was barely a reason to now.

"We are going-" Rey looked to Finn in the rear-view mirror.

"DANCING!" The trio chorused. Ben stiffened and said nothing. In response to the tense silence, Poe put in his favorite Bruce Springsteen CD and soon they were belting out the words (somewhat Ben as well).

Outside the city limits, in the club, Poe and Finn instantly took the floor. Male attention was on Rey as she kicked her feet up and twirled gracefully. Red-faced and breathless an hour later, she stumbled over to the table where Ben had sat most of the night. She glanced back at Finn and Poe, who were dancing together in a somewhat platonic way, but she could sense more than that when she looked at them.

She then looked back to Ben.

"Why aren't you out there with me?"

He shook his head. "Rev. Snoke says that it's sinful."

"He thinks rock'n'roll is a sin, and you like that," she pointed out.

He gritted his teeth. "Dancing is different."

"How?" She asked.

He shook his head and rose to his feet. "Fine, I'll dance with you."

She grinned and took his hand out to the floor as the beat to a John Mellancamp song played. She clapped her hands and tapped her foot as he slowly got the hang of it. Rey could tell by the way he moved that at one time, he might've danced. Then again, she was also quite distracted by the feel of their bodies flowing together to the music, the heat radiating off of them and, well, chemistry working its magic on the two of them.

Both Rey and Ben wanted the moment to never end, wanted this for all eternity. Still, they did have to go back home soon. Eventually they returned with Finn and Poe, with a sort of glow. No one knew what had happened, but they did know that Ben seemed quite cheery for once when he was dropped off at the Solo place.


End file.
